


Back to the Past

by msoregano21



Series: DP Season 4 [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Family, Gen, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msoregano21/pseuds/msoregano21
Summary: Set three months after Phantom Planet, everything is going well in Danny and his friends' lives. Danny is doing better in school, he and Sam are still together, Tucker is still the Mayor of Amity Park...everything's perfect until a girl with black hair and purple eyes falls from the sky. This Season 4 takes a mature turn and is packed with action, drama, comedy, and romance!
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Series: DP Season 4 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094030
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hi everyone! Thanks for your interest in my fanfic! Ever since Danny Phantom ended, I've always had this idea of what I would like to see for Season 4. I've developed it throughout the years, but it always just stayed in my head. When I shared my story with a few friends, they all told me to publish it on some sort of fanfiction-type website. And I finally did! And here it is! I sincerely hope you enjoy it :) If you do, please review, favorite, follow, and share!

This is a work of fanfiction using characters from the Danny Phantom world, which is owned by Nickelodeon and Viacom. I do not claim any ownership over anything except the storyline and the characters I created. Please do not copy.

**_Amity Park: 25 Years in the Future…_ **

A digital clock hung upon the dull yellow wall of a math classroom. 2:59 pm.

Beneath it, twenty teenaged students crouched over their desks, furiously writing on printed sheets of paper.

A shorter girl, with long black hair gathered up into a high ponytail, scribbled on a sheet. She suddenly paused; furrowed her full, thin eyebrows; then flipped over her pencil to erase her work.

A teacher, with her dark brown hair in a bun and wearing round glasses, sat behind a table. She glanced at the clock.

"Alright, class. Time's up; pencils down."

The girl's hand trembled as she placed her pencil upon her desk.

"Bring your tests up to the front," the teacher said.

The students slowly rose from their seats and hesitantly formed a line. She made her way to the very back; her violet eyes reviewed her work from the past hour.

"Thank you, Michael…thank you, Celia…Tara?  _ Tara? _ "

Tara looked up from the test in her hands. There was now just an empty space between her and her teacher.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she scrambled to the desk.

The teacher took the test from Tara's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Tara. Are you okay?"

Tara rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, this test was definitely a lot harder than the last ones."

Her teacher smiled. "I think your peers can agree with you on that one. But I'm sure you did just fine. You've gotten all A's so far in this class."

"I guess. Thanks, Mrs. Dunham," Tara said with an unconvincing smile.

In the hallway, a Black girl with short, curly hair and turquoise eyes leaned up against the wall with her backpack by her feet. The door next to her slid open, and Tara stepped out.

"Finally! When I didn't see you come out, I asked one of your classmates where you were, and he said you were still in there! What happened?"

"Mrs. Dunham and I were just talking for a bit. Sorry to keep you waiting, Vanessa," Tara said.

Vanessa put her bag over her shoulder. "Okay, well, let's go!"

They walked out the front doors of Casper High; while the school building remained the same, the town it belonged to had changed quite dramatically. Small electric cars zoomed on the streets past the girls, while drones carrying small packages flew above their heads. As they walked further into the suburban part of Amity Park, they left the new, tall towers of the city behind them.

"Girl, I am  _ so _ glad it's Friday. I've been waiting for this day since Monday," Vanessa said.

Tara laughed. "I'll say. I finally get to relax after stressing out over that test."

"You definitely need to relax. You've been studying all week long! I'm going to catch up on some of my TV shows tonight. Wanna come over?"

"Pass," Tara said with a chuckle. "You just said they're the TV shows  _ you  _ watch. I hate those shows. Plus, Mom said this morning she might order pizza for dinner tonight. And I'm not missing out on that."

They stopped in front of a one-floor house with a green front lawn and an electric car parked in the driveway.

"Okay then, but we'll still see each other tomorrow, right? Lunch at the Nasty Burger?" Vanessa said.

"For sure. See ya, Vanessa!"

"Bye, Tara!"

Tara followed the concrete path to her house as her best friend walked further into the suburbs.

She opened the door to an empty living room.

"Dad?" she said as she walked inside and closed the door behind her. " _ Daaaad?" _

Quick little footsteps came from the staircase to her right.

"TARA!"

All of a sudden, Tara could feel something colliding into her leg. She looked down to see a younger girl in a black tutu grabbing onto her leg.

"Hi Tara! I got home before you!"

"Right, 'cause Dad could pick you up from school today. Hey, Megan, where's Dad?"

The small girl looked up at her sister with big, blue eyes. "He's in the basement. But I want you to play with me!"

Tara smiled and rubbed the long, onyx hair on her little sister's head.

"After I see Dad, okay?"

Megan pouted. "Fine."

Tara opened the door leading to the basement, only slightly illuminating the dark staircase.

"Dad?"

"Down here," a deeper voice called back.

Leaving the door open, she walked down the steps until she reached a room filled with half-built machines and desks with blueprints on them. She walked towards a grown man, bent over a machine with a wrench in his hand.

"Hi, Dad. How was your day?"

The man straightened and turned to her, sky-blue eyes meeting her amethyst ones.

"Long. Tiring," he said as he brushed his hands over his stained, white shirt and dusty jeans.

"What are you working on?" she said as she walked closer to him.

"Some invention your grandpa made. But you know how it is—he does half the job and then leaves the rest to me, complaining about his old age and aching back," he said with a chuckle. "It's supposed to be a time machine."

"Really? How does that help with his ghost hunting?" Tara said.

"It really doesn't. He just wants to be able to say he invented the world's first time machine. Check it out."

The time machine looked like a long rocket, with a pointed tip at the front. The man pressed a button on the side, and the bubble that surrounded the control panel retracted back. He pointed to the knobs.

"See, here's where you type in the day, that's where you type in the month, and that's where you type in the year, past or future. Then you press this button, push down this lever, and then it should take you there, in theory. Kind of cool, right?"

"No, Dad. We don't say 'cool' anymore. It's 'savvy.' Like, that time machine's pretty savvy."

He ran his hand through his black hair. "Well, old habits die hard. We said 'cool' a lot back then. But anyway, I already told Megan this, but don't mess with the time machine. I'm still not done with it, so it's really unpredictable. I mean, I've done a lot of work on it, but I don't think it's ready yet."

"For sure, Dad."

Suddenly, they could hear a door open and close.

"Mommy!"

"Hi, sweetie,” a soothing voice said.

"We’ll be up in a sec," he shouted back. "Come on, Tara. I bet your mom wants to order dinner now."

As he climbed up the stairs, Tara stood looking at the metallic contraption in front of her. She stared at it for a while inquisitively before joining her family upstairs.

xxxxxxxx

Tara could not go to sleep. She just kept looking at her ceiling with her arms crossed behind her head.

After she couldn't take it any longer, she stepped off her bed onto the hardwood floor.

Tara tiptoed out, past the rooms of her sleeping sister and her lightly snoring parents, and down the basement stairs. When she reached the bottom floor, she fumbled her hand around the wall for the light switch. She flipped the switch, and the lights flickered on, one by one.

Tara walked towards the time machine. Her fingers skimmed across the machine as she walked to the control panel. She pressed the red button, and the bubble retracted.

Tara hopped into the machine and put on the suit crumpled inside. It was large for her slender, yet muscular frame; it seemed to be her father's size. As soon as she sat on the seat, the bubble engulfed her.

"Okay, so…today's Friday…she would probably have the test graded by Monday…I just need some peace of mind. I just want to see how I did on the test. It’s fine."

She switched the knobs and pressed the button.

"I hope this works…"

She pushed the lever.

xxxxxxxxx

**_Amity Park: Present Day…_ **

Danny, Sam, and Tucker walked down the street towards Fenton Works. Danny and Sam walked hand-in-hand with Tucker beside them.

"Man, they shouldn't give their own  _ mayor _ homework. I've got a ton of other responsibilities now!" Tucker said, lugging his backpack on his shoulder.

Danny chuckled. "You're telling me. Between sending Jazz off to Stanford, telling Mom and Dad about Danielle and letting her move in with us, press conferences about the Disasteroid, and still fighting ghosts, I haven't had any time for myself lately. I don't know where I'm going to find the time to study."

"Well, at least the school's going to give you extra time for tests and other assignments," Sam said. "You're a hero now; it's pretty much a full-time job."

"I have to thank Jazz for talking to the principal."

"You also need time to just be a teen," Tucker said. "Are we still doing movie night and pizza at your house, Sam?"

"Yup!"

"You guys aren't going to cuddle again, like when we went to the movies last time, right?"

"Can't guarantee that," Danny said.

"Aw, dang. It's been three months! Lighten up on the PDA!"

"No promises," Sam said.

All of a sudden, the floor shook under them, and they heard a crash behind them.

"What was that?" Tucker said.

"An earthquake?" Sam said.

Danny's ghost sense went off. "No, a ghost. But where?"

From an alley not too far away from them, the rocket collided into a dumpster, smashing both into large pieces. The control panel was still intact, however, and Tara was able to retract the screen.

"Where…am I?" she said as she climbed out.

She looked back at the wreckage. "Oh man, Dad's going to kill me!"

"My ghost sense is getting stronger over here," a voice nearby shouted.

"Ghost sense?" Tara said.

Then, three shocked teenagers stood at the entrance of the alley.

"Whoa…" Tucker said, mouth agape.

"What happened here? Who are you?" Sam demanded.

Tara's mouth fell open. "Oh, no…what year is it?"

"Year?" Sam said.

Tara ran past the teens, pushing them out of her way, and stood at the sidewalk. She spun in a slow circle, taking in her environment. Gas cars. Drone-free sky. Lack of skyscrapers.

"No, this isn't possible…How could it have taken me here? How am I going to get home now?"

"Just tell us who you are. Maybe we can help you," Danny pleaded.

Tara turned towards Danny.

"Dad…" she said before collapsing.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at Fenton Works, Tara laid on Danny's bed with the others sitting around and staring at her.

"This doesn't make any sense," Sam said. "We've fought ghosts inside and outside the ghost zone, and I've never seen anyone look like her. And what did she mean by 'dad'? She looks our age, maybe a couple years younger."

"Did you see how confused she was? She probably didn't mean what she said," Tucker chimed in.

Sam looked back at Danny, who was watching Tara intently.

"What's wrong, Danny?"

"I don't know, it's just…" Danny said. "Well, it's just that she kind of looks like me."

Tucker and Sam glanced back at the girl on Danny's bed.

"I don't think she said that by accident," he continued.

Tara's eyelids suddenly fluttered.

"Where…" she mumbled. She slowly opened her eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're in a safe place now," Danny said.

Upon hearing his voice, Tara quickly sat up against the pillows.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't get up so fast. You took a pretty hard fall," Tucker said as he tried to push Tara back down.

"Wh-what's going on?"

"Well, we were hoping  _ you _ could answer that," Sam said. "Starting with your name?"

"My name…" Tara paused and then sighed.

"My name is Tara…Fenton," she said, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Fenton?" Danny repeated.

She looked at Danny straight in the eye.

"I'm your daughter…from the future."

"No way," Tucker said with eyes wide.

Sam closed her open mouth. "Is there a reason why you've come back to the past? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just…" Tara then sighed and rambled, "I just did something really dumb. My dad was working on this time machine that Grandpa started to make, and he told me  _ not _ to touch it, but I did because I had this pre-calculus test I was really worried about, so I just wanted to see if I would get at least a passing grade, and, well, I guess it sent me to the past rather than a few days in the future, although I don't know why…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Time machine?" Tucker said.

Tara nodded. "My grandpa still invents things, though he leaves the bulk of the work to Dad."

"And pre-calculus? How old are you?" Sam said.

"Fourteen. But I'm pretty smart for my age. That's why Aunt Jazz tutors me over the summer—to get me ahead of my class. Now I'm two years ahead in math!"

"She definitely didn't get that from you," Tucker whispered to Danny.

Danny ignored the side comment. "So, you got here on accident? How are you going to get back to your own time?"

"I don't know," Tara said with a defeated look. "The time machine's pretty destroyed…" She gasped. "Wait, where's the time machine?"

"We hauled all that stuff back to the basement of Fenton Works. Fits in well with the rest of the junk down there," Tucker said.

"Wait, so why did Danny's ghost sense go off when you arrived?" Sam asked.

Tara looked up at Sam. "Probably because of this."

Right before them, a large white circle appeared around her chest. It split into two and moved into opposite directions down her body.

Black and white suit. Tan skin. White hair. Piercing green eyes.

"No way," Danny said. "You're…half-ghost too?"

Tara nodded.

"So…" Sam stammered. "If…if Danny's your father, then who's…your mother?"

Tara stared back at her. "...You. You're my mom."

There was a pause, as Sam's cheeks turned a bright shade of red and Danny's turned even redder.

"What?! You're trying to tell me I'm stuck watching their PDA for the rest of my life?" Tucker yelled.

"This is all a little too much to take in," Danny said. "Is there anything we can do to help you now?"

"Not really… I don't know how my grandpa and dad built that time machine. I don't think I could put it back together."

"Maybe once your parents notice you and the time machine gone, they'll build a new one to get you back," Tucker said.

" _ If _ they can build a working one, and  _ if _ they figure out when and where I am."

"Yeah, but for now, I guess you're kind of stuck here. We need a cover for you," Danny said.

"Yeah, we can't risk telling your parents the truth. Learning about Danny's clone was hard to swallow, but finding out that their future granddaughter is living under their same roof? It'll totally freak them out," Sam said.

"Oh, you're talking about Auntie Dani, right? She's doing fine in the future, by the way. Better than fine, actually. She just got engaged!"

"Well, that's good to hear," Danny said with a smile. "I'm glad she'll be able to live the normal, human life she wanted."

"Hey, what about me? What's my future like? Am I going to get married? Do I have kids? Am I still mayor?" Tucker said.

"Calm down, Tucker! She's not a crystal ball or anything," Sam said.

"I'll only tell you a little bit: you're going to have an amazing daughter named Vanessa. She's actually my best friend! You live a few houses down, and you're not going to be mayor anymore. You're working in astrophysics now."

"Suh-weet!"

"I've got an idea for a cover," Sam said. "Why don't you live with me and pretend to be a pen pal who's come over to visit?"

"A pen pal? Really?" Danny said with a questioning look.

"My parents don't know what I do with my free time. For all they know, I could be writing to a pen pal from Canada. What do you say, Tara?"

Tara grinned. "Savvy."

"Savvy?" Danny asked.

"It means, like, 'cool' back in this time."

"Oh. Okay, then."

"You should probably get some rest. We'll have everything arranged by the time you wake up," Sam said.

"Thanks…what do I call you? I can't call you Mom, Dad, and Uncle Tuck."

Tucker chuckled. "Uncle Tuck…"

"Uh, just call us by our names. Danny, Sam, and Tucker," Danny said.

"Okay. Thanks, Danny," Tara said, smiling.

The trio walked out of Danny's room as Tara settled back onto the pillows. Danny closed the door behind him.

"Tara…that's actually a pretty name."


	3. Chapter 3

As Danny made his way down the stairs, he saw Sam sitting on the couch in the living room. She sat, back bent over, with her hands interlaced; her eyebrows furrowed.

"Where's Tucker?" he said as he reached the last step.

"He said he has to get some 'mayor duties' out of the way. He'll be back," she said.

Danny took a seat next to her, but Sam didn't look his way.

"Sam? Are you okay?"

She waited a while before she spoke.

"I'm just…in shock, I guess. I mean… _ so  _ much has happened in such a short time."

"I know…"

She looked at him. "Married? With a  _ daughter _ ? We're only sixteen! I haven't thought that far ahead into my future! And  _ a kid? _ " She chuckled. "I wasn't even sure if I was going to  _ have _ kids."

Danny remained silent.

"It's not that I don't want a future with you, Danny. Of course I want  _ something _ . But we've only been officially dating for  _ three months _ . It's just too soon to have your future daughter fall from the sky in a rocket ship, telling you you're going to marry the guy you just started dating."

"I don't think there's ever a good time for that, Sam."

Sam sighed.

"But I get what you mean," Danny continued. "It feels like…like our future isn't ours to decide anymore. Like it's already been written for us.

"But that's why I don't want to ask her too many questions. I know Tucker really wants to know what's in his future, and at first, I did too…but then I realized that if I did know everything, I'd go crazy trying to make those things happen…or trying to make them  _ not  _ happen."

"Yeah…I guess, for now, we shouldn't treat her like our daughter. Let's just think of her as a friend," Sam said.

"I think you're right."

Danny then took her hands.

"But you know, in a way, it's kind of cool knowing I get to be with you for a long time. I guess it makes sense. After all, I did say I couldn't imagine my life without you," he said with a smile.

Sam smiled and blushed back.

Suddenly, the front door sprung open.

"Now, Jack, don't you think you were being a little too hard on Dani?" Maddie said as she walked in the house.

Dani popped out from behind Jack.

"I'm fine, Mom, really! It was actually a lot of fun," Dani said.

"What'd I tell ya, Maddie?" Jack said as he noogied the top of Dani's head. "She'll be as good a ghost fighter as Danny in no time!"

Dani hopped onto the couch next to Danny.

"Hey Dani! How was training?" Danny said.

"It was great," she said. "I made it through the whole Fenton Obstacle Course in one piece. Hit everything that came at me! Look out, Amity Park, there's a new Phantom ghost fighter in town!"

Danny chuckled. "It'll be nice to take some of the ghost fighting load off of me."

"Hey, your old man's helping out! Check this out," Jack said. He grabbed Danny by the shirt and pulled him down to the basement.

He took Danny to a pair of claw-like, white gloves on a desk. "Your mom and I are still tweaking it," he said as he picked them up and fit them over his hands. "But these should be able to rip out two ghosts fused together. I call them…the Fenton Divider!" He struck a heroic pose.

"They're just like the Ghost Gauntlets Vlad invented in that alternate universe," Danny whispered.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"Uh, nothing. So, how do they work?"

"Like this!" Jack started to make breaststroke-like arm movements. "Take that, ghost! And that! And this! Haha! Nothing can get past these babies!"

"Okay, Jack. Let's not swing them around too close to Danny," Maddie said as she approached Danny from behind and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Oh, right. Sorry," he said, taking them off. "And you know we'd never try to use these to hurt you, son."

"I know. Thanks," Danny said with a smile.

Suddenly, Sam came running hastily down the stairs. She tugged at his arm.

"Danny. We need to go.  _ Now _ ."

They sprinted up the stairs to find Tucker, with outstretched arms, blocking the door to Danny's bedroom from Dani, who was already in ghost-mode and in a fighting stance.

"I don't know why you're protecting whatever's in Danny's room," Dani said. "But I know it's a ghost, because my ghost sense went off. So back off, and let me see if it's dangerous."

"Look, Dani, I totally get where you're coming from—really! But I just can't let you in," Tucker exclaimed.

"Don't make me phase through the door, Tucker!"

"Guys, stop!" Danny shouted.

"Dude,  _ finally _ . Where have you been this whole time I've been fighting off your ghost-clone little sister-slash-cousin?"

"With my dad downstairs." Danny turned to Dani. "Dani, if you go un-ghost right now, I promise I'll explain everything."

"Everything? You sure?" Tucker said as Dani transformed back to her human self.

"Well, maybe if she knows, she can help us keep it a secret from Mom and Dad."

"Keep  _ what _ a secret?" Dani said, exasperated.

Danny opened the door to his bedroom and walked in, his friends following behind.

"Tara? You in here?" he said as he scanned the room.

"Danny?" came a voice.

Tara made her human self visible by the corner of the room.

"Wait, she just went invisible…but she's human?" Dani said.

"She's…uh, half-ghost too, Dani," Danny said.

"How?" Dani walked up to and inspected Tara. "Are you another one of Vlad's clones?"

"No, I'm, uh…" Tara looked towards Danny.

"She's my…daughter, from the future."

"What?!" Dani practically screeched.

"Shh! Keep it down. We don't want our parents finding out."

"She got here by accident," Sam said. "We need to keep her hidden and safe until Danny from the future creates a new time machine to get her back."

Dani squinted her eyes. "Wait a second, how can we trust you? How do we really know you are who you say you are?"

"Because you came to Earth and Fenton Works after wandering around the ghost zone for a while," Tara said, without missing a beat. "You wanted a stable home, with a real dad—the kind of dad Vlad couldn't give you—and a real mom. You just wanted someplace to belong."

"How…how did you know that?" Dani whispered.

"You told me that once, in the future. You used to babysit me as a kid, and you told me your story one time when we were at the park."

Dani crossed her arms and sighed. "Okay, I believe you. But how are we going to keep this a secret?" She turned to Danny. "We can't just hide a whole person in your room without somebody noticing."

"That's why she's going to be over at Sam's place. We're going to pretend she's a pen pal from Canada coming to visit. But she'll be over at our house from time to time, I'm guessing."

Dani looked back at Tara.

"You'd better study up on Canada," Dani said with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

The Manson dining table was silent, except for the clanking of silver utensils on ceramic plates.

Tara scanned around her grandparents' dining room.

The room was so large, it easily took up a quarter of the first floor. Although the long, wooden table was in the center of the dining room, there was still enough space for people to move around without bumping into other people or furniture. Royal purple curtains draped over the windows, and the walls radiated with a deep burgundy color. Against one wall stood a tall and proud cupboard with extra china; at one of the corners were some lonely, extra chairs.

"So…"

Tara whipped her head back to the Mansons.

"…You say you're from…Canada?" Sam's father said.

"Yes, I am."

Sam's mother raised an eyebrow. "I thought they speak French in Canada."

"Not all of Canada is Montreal,  _ Mom _ ," Sam said as she picked at her tofu.

The Mansons became quiet again.

"You'll have to excuse us," Mr. Manson began. "It's just that we didn't know our Sam was able to make other friends besides that ghost kid and the Mayor of Amity Park."

"They have names,  _ Dad _ . Danny and Tucker. They're more than just their jobs."

"And she's perfectly capable of making friends," Tara said with a polite smile.

"Well, I can see. She's finally made a good, sweet, and well-mannered friend like you!" Mrs. Manson said.

"And what is  _ that  _ supposed to mean?" Sam said.

"You can't deny, Sammy-kins, that those two boys have been nothing but trouble," Mrs. Manson said, turning to her daughter. "Putting you in danger like that, with all those ghosts…"

"Mom, I  _ wanted _ to help. And they are good people. One's a  _ superhero _ , for crying out loud."

"Well, I still find the Fentons a bunch of oddballs."

"I can't believe being a  _ global hero _ still isn't good enough for you."

"I've met Danny and Tucker," Tara interjected. "And to me, they seem like a bunch of good influences. You are lucky that Sam hangs around some awesome people."

Silence once again. The adult Mansons bowed their heads over their chicken. Tara snuck a look at Sam.

She was smiling.

"Well, it's a good thing the maid came in last week. We have a guest bedroom all ready for you," Mr. Manson said.

xxxxxxxx

_ Pum, pum, pum. _

Sam was already in her black nightgown and reading a gothic novel in bed when she heard the soft knock from her bedroom window. She looked over her book at the window and found a white-gloved hand waving at her from below.

She smiled, putting her book down and hopping off the bed. Sam opened her window.

There, floating underneath the glass, was Danny with his hands behind his back, grinning at her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied, resting her arms on the windowsill.

"What're you doing?"

"Just finishing up my book before going to bed. I'm almost done."

"Wow, that was fast. I'm glad you could find the time to read it."

Sam shrugged. "I usually don't have anything to do right before bed, and reading helps me get to sleep quicker."

They stayed like this—Sam at her window, Danny floating below her—in the quiet, content with looking at each other's faces.

After a while, Sam finally broke the silence.

"So…what's behind your back?"

Danny quickly shook his head.

"Oh! Right! I, um…well, you know, I was making my rounds around town, trying to see if there was any ghost activity before I go to sleep, and…well…" He revealed a bouquet of purple, white, and yellow wildflowers. "I know you don't believe in chivalry, because you think it's anti-feministic and it makes women look like they can't do anything for themselves, which, I  _ totally _ get, but, I dunno, I saw these flowers and I thought that it would be a nice way to show you that I'm thinking about you and…"

Sam cupped his face and kissed his forehead, cutting off Danny's rambling.

"They're beautiful. Thank you."

She took them from Danny and smoothed their petals.

"Uh, you're welcome," Danny said as he rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink.

"So, you done for the night?"

"Yeah, seems pretty calm tonight."

"My parents are asleep…you wanna come in?" she said with lowered eyelids.

"Sure, I'd love to."

Sam placed the flowers on top of her desk, as Danny flew in and changed back into a human. She then went back into bed and curled up on her side. Long, strong arms soon wrapped around her from behind and jean legs became entangled with her bare ones. She placed her hands over his.

"Hi."

Sam chuckled. "Hi, Danny."

"So, how did your parents take it?"

"Tara? Better than I expected, actually. Practically welcomed her with open arms."

"Something tells me it didn't go that well," he said, lowering his voice.

Sam sighed. "It was nothing against her; they were just being their same stubborn, ignorant selves. They brought up the same old stuff again, except this time, Tara got caught in the middle."

Danny stiffened.

"I really don't care if they approve of you and Tucker or not. I don't. I just want them to stop talking crud about you guys."

"Yeah. You'd think that after saving the world, they'd think I'm good enough for you."

"I don't think it's a matter of good enough for  _ me _ , but good enough for  _ them _ ." She then patted his hands. "Whatever. I don't care. You're sticking around for a long time and they'll just have to accept that."

Danny chuckled. "In case they have any doubts of how serious we are, they can just look over in the next bedroom."

"Yeah," Sam said with a laugh.

They grew quiet. Sam closed her eyes.

"We probably should get Tara out of your house as much as possible. We don't want your parents remembering what she looks like in the future."

"We'll only have her come back to my house to sleep," Sam said groggily.

Danny scooted his body closer to Sam's and kissed the back of her head.

"Goodnight."


	5. Chapter 5

**_25 Years in the Future…_ **

The front door opened and Vanessa bolted inside.

"Megan," she said to the girl playing with her dollhouse. "Where's your dad?"

"He's downstairs."

Vanessa sprinted past her and threw open the basement door.

"What's going on, Nes? No one will tell me anything. Where's Tara?"

"I wish I knew," Vanessa whispered as she ran down the stairs.

She found Danny sitting on the floor with a pencil snug between his ear and messy black hair, surrounded by heaps of metal parts. He was madly drawing at a blueprint on a clipboard.

He suddenly ripped the paper off the clipboard and crumpled it.

"No, no,  _ NO! _ This is crap!" He threw it off to the side.

"My dad's getting his toolbox and some techy stuff from the trunk. He'll be down here soon."

"Oh, Vanessa, I didn't realize you were here. Good," he said as he made his way through the metal parts to his desk. He pulled out a fresh blueprint paper from a drawer.

"We'll need all hands on deck for this," he said.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, actually." He walked over to Vanessa and put his hands on her shoulders. "I need you to distract Megan for me."

"But I want to help build! We need a new time machine quick!"

"I know we do. That's why my parents are coming too, and Sam's flying right now to Clockwork. But Megan's probably scared right now. Waking up to find her sister and the time machine gone, and her parents freaking out…it's all too much for a seven-year-old.

“So while we're all down here, I want you to give her the best day possible. Play with her dollhouse. If she wants to dress up and pretend she's a pretty ballerina, she's a pretty ballerina. Take her out to ice cream. I don't care. But don't tell her what's happening. She's too young."

Vanessa sighed. "Okay."

"I'll even pay you for the babysitting."

"No need to pay me, Mr. Fenton. Just…get me my best friend back, as fast as you can."

"Trust me, I'm working as hard as I can."

All of a sudden, he let go of Vanessa's shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut. He put a hand to his head and doubled over.

"Agh…"

"Mr. Fenton! Are you okay? Should I call my dad? Mr. Fenton!"

He opened his eyes.

"I know where Tara is."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Amity Park: Present Day…_ **

Danny groaned. "All this commotion with Tara made me too busy to do homework last night."

It was morning, just before school started. Danny and Tucker sat at a picnic table behind Casper High, with their textbooks open and homework halfway finished.

"Don't even get me started, dude. I had all that  _ plus _ mayoral work. You know, I'm kind of glad I'm going to get into astrophysics in the future. I don't know if I'm really cut out for law."

"Well, you're doing a really great job so far. You managed to get Amity Park to be one of the cleanest, pollution-reduced cities in the state! 'Though, I'm not sure how I feel about that new bill you're introducing to put more technology in elementary school classrooms."

"Hey! We're moving into a more technological world. They need to learn how to use that stuff! Anyways, what'd you get for number ten?"

Danny turned his homework around and scooted it across the table.

"What? How'd you get  _ that _ ?"

"Hey guys," a female voice said from behind them.

The boys turned around to find Sam with Tara right behind her.

"Hey Sam. Hey Tara," Danny said.

"Sam, school's about to start! How are you gonna finish your homework before class?" Tucker said.

"I finished mine up last night," she said.

"Dang…"

"Isn't she smart?" Danny said.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're cutsey lovebirds. In that case, Sam, what did you get for number ten on the science homework? 'Cause I know this guy didn't do his math right," Tucker said.

"Hey!"

"For the first time in my life, I'm not gonna argue with you about the 'lovebirds' thing. Here, let me just get my homework out…"

As the two compared notes, Danny turned to Tara.

"So, Tara, what are you going to do while we're in school?"

"Well, I don't want to stick around Sam's house or your house. Don't wanna risk having my future grandparents remembering 'Tanya,'" she said, making air quotations with her fingers. "I'll just walk around Amity Park until you guys are out. It'll be like walking into a history book!"

"Yeah, well, just make sure you're invisible. We don't want anyone to recognize you in the future."

"You got it."

"Hey FENTON!" a voice cried out.

The group looked at the tall, stacked blonde in a letterman jacket coming towards them. Beside him were an Asian teen in the same type of jacket and two slender young girls.

"What're you nerds doing? Homework? Ha!"

"…Yeah, because we want to eventually go to college," Tucker said.

"How are  _ your _ grades, Dash?" Danny said.

Dash stopped in his tracks.

"Stupid…can't believe the school geeks are  _ heroes _ …" he said as he walked away.

"Old habits die hard for him, huh?" Tucker said.

"Well, at least now he actually calls me 'Fenton.' That's an improvement." Danny said with a sigh.

"See you in class, Danny!" Kwan called out as Star waved at them.

"Glad to see some people have managed to change their ways," Sam said.

Suddenly, a high-pitched Latina voice screamed out, " _ Danny! _ "

"Except for her," Sam continued.

Paulina ran to the picnic table and sat next Danny.

"Danny? I'm having trouble with my homework, too. Can you help me?"

Sam furrowed her eyebrows.

"Hey, Paulina, why don't you go to your own friends for help? In case you've got a sudden case of amnesia, you were never friendly to us before the asteroid," she said.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm done with my homework," Danny said as he closed up his book, shoved his stuff into his backpack, and stood up from the table. He then took Sam's hand, and she smiled at him.

Her grin soon disappeared.

"Uh, Danny? Where's Tara?" she said.

"So…do  _ you _ like quarterbacks?"

The teenagers found Tara by a tree, arms folded and looking away from Dash.

"If I  _ were  _ interested in quarterbacks, it sure as heck wouldn't be  _ jerk _ quarterbacks like you," she said.

"Hey, you're kinda cute when you play hard to get. You know, I haven't seen you around before. Are you from out of town?…"

"HEY! Get away from her!" Danny yelled as he walked towards them.

Dash looked at him from the corner of his eye and chuckled.

"What, just because you're some big superstar now, that means you get to hog all the chicks?"

Sam stood behind Danny and clenched her fists by her sides.

"She said she wasn't interested," she growled.

"Hey, polygony ain't legal here," Dash said and laughed.

Tara finally turned to him.

"You know what? I've heard about you. You're Dash Baxter."

He stopped laughing. Dash grinned at her and not-so-subtly flexed his arm muscles. "Glad to see I've become a household name."

Tara raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"You sure are. See, I know what kind of person you are. You're a big, tough guy who thinks he can get the ladies with his less-than-mediocre flirtatious moves."

"Well, I sure can…wait,  _ less-than-mediocre _ ?"

"In fact," she continued, "That's all you can probably run with right now. But I've seen your type before…and I've seen them grow up.

“They become  _ pathetic _ . Those muscles? You know what happens when you stop working out? It turns into  _ fat _ . And  _ a lot _ of it, especially if we're talking about yours.

“When you've become so consumed with chasing tail that you neglect your studies, you ultimately graduate from high school—barely—and turn into a  _ nobody _ . And then, nobody will even want to be  _ around _ you.

“You will become lonely and bitter, and you'll wish you did your life differently. Starting from when you were in high school."

At that moment, all that could be heard were the birds chirping and the wind gently blowing. The group was speechless, especially Dash.

Finally, Dash cleared his throat.

"Thanks for your concern, cutie, but I think I'll take my chances on life."

He turned around and headed towards the back entrance of the school. Paulina ran after him.

"See ya around," he yelled back.

When the duo entered the building, Tucker at last spoke.

"Is that…what's going to happen to him?"

"Oh yeah," Tara said. "My dad said he didn't get into any of the colleges he applied to, so he ended up going to Amity Park Community College along with that girl next to him, Paulina Sanchez. He ended up marrying her because they both wanted kids but no one wanted to be with them."

"That's actually kind of sad," Danny said.

"I almost feel sorry for them," Sam agreed.

Tara shrugged. "I guess I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. They have twin girls in the future. London and Paris."

"London and Paris?" Danny said, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, Mrs. Baxter wants more with her life, but she's stuck in Amity Park. So, she named her daughters after the places she would've wanted to live in. London and Paris."

"Okay, that  _ is _ sad," Danny said.

"Yeah, and Mrs. Baxter puts a lot of pressure on them to be what  _ she _ couldn't be. Paris is kind of a nerd. She's nice, keeps to herself most of the time. But London…" Tara shook her head. "London's just like her mom and dad. A selfish, egotistical bully who even picks on her own sister."

" _ Dang _ ," Tucker said.

"Eh. I tried to do him a favor by warning him. It's just something you guys can remember the next time they get on your case." Tara turned and waved. "Well, see ya later!" She then vanished.

The trio stood looking at the emptiness until the bell rang.

Tucker gasped. "Let's go! We're late!"

They ran inside.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Brrrrriiiiiing!_ **

The students of Casper High raced out the front doors either to the school buses or straight to their homes.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were among those students.

Danny yawned. "Finally, school's over for the day. Now to just pick up Dani from middle school and…"

The sight of Dani holding hands with Tara and walking towards them interrupted him.

"Wow, the future seems  _ amazing _ !" Dani said to Tara.

"It isn't perfect, but it's definitely something to look forward to," Tara said.

"Dani? Tara?" Danny cried out.

"Hey Danny!" Tara said. "I was just picking up Dani from school."

"Yeah, we were totally bonding," Dani added.

"I can see that. But what happened to keeping a low profile? What if someone saw you picking Dani up?"

"Relax," Tara said. "They only saw me for a second. They won't remember something that quick."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about Dash?" Dani said.

"You know about that?" Danny asked.

"Tara told me everything about this afternoon. Dude, your future daughter  _ totally _ kicks butt!" She high-fived Tara.

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that dimwit. He probably forgot about it already and moved on," Tara said.

"I hope so," Sam said.

Suddenly, blue fog came out of Danny, Dani, and Tara's mouths.

"Oh, no. Not now," Danny said.

A shrill scream came from the street across from them. A young woman sprinted down the block, with a blue, female ghost chasing her.

The ghost stopped.

"Yeah, you better run away! This is  _ my _ house now!  _ Mine _ !" She laughed maniacally.

"Whose shift is it this time?" Tucker said to the group.

Sam looked at her watch. "It's 3:40."

"After 3:30, it's my shift!" Dani said as she turned into her ghostly self.

"Wait a sec, Dani," Danny said, going ghost himself. "Let me help. I've never seen this ghost before."

"I can help too…" Tara began.

"No," Danny said. "People know about Dani and her past. We don't want another half-ghost fighting with us, and people asking questions."

"I guess," Tara said, with a defeated look.

The two heroes sprung into the air and flew to the ghost.

Except for her ghostly tail, she had a human-like appearance. She wore a white shirt with the number four printed on it, and styled a blue pixie cut. She had a little hoop piercing on the side of her lip.

Her teal eyes finally fixated on the two.

"If you're looking for somewhere to live, this is  _ my _ home now. So, beat it!"

"Why don't you go find a nice apartment to rent  _ in the Ghost Zone?" _ Dani said as she whipped out her own Fenton Thermos.

The girl ghost, with her facial expressions unchanged, zapped Dani's hand with a green ray.

"Ouch!" Dani's hand gave off a bit of smoke, and the Thermos fell to the ground.

"Who are you?" Danny demanded.

"I'm Satya, and I just want to be left alone at my new place!"

"Yeah, but your  _ new  _ place already had someone living there. Can't you go find a home in the Ghost Zone?" Danny said.

"Ugh, I hate it there. The party life there is  _ so _ dead."

"What a tragedy," Dani said sarcastically.

"I'll ask you one more time.  _ Leave _ .  _ Now _ ," Danny said.

Satya smiled.

"Make me."

She thrust her hand out and shot a wider ghost ray at them.

"Aah!"

They crashed onto the concrete floor, cracking it underneath them. Danny rubbed his head.

"I got this," he said to Dani and flew upwards.

"Hey! You can't hurt a kid!" he yelled as he created ecto-energy disks and flung them towards Satya.

She swiftly avoided the green Frisbees, and they exploded into the air.

"Oh,  _ come on _ ! Is that  _ really _ the best you've got?  _ Really _ ?"

Danny gritted his teeth. He then formed a large ecto-energy ball and hurled it at her.

However, she disappeared before the ball hit her, and it crashed into the sidewalk.

"What…?" he said, searching his surroundings.

"Think fast!"

He could suddenly feel a tiger-like scratch on his back.

"Agh!" he yelled, flinging forwards.

Satya looked at him with a satisfied grin, then noticed the green ecto-blood under her long fingernails.

"Ewww," she said, as she retracted her nails back. "You've ruined a perfectly good manicure, dumbface!"

" _ Hey _ ! Leave my brother alone!"

A powerful blue force sucked Satya from behind, and she swirled into the Fenton Thermos. Dani put the lid on it.

"What a total airhead."

" _ Danny _ !" came a collective scream.

Dani looked down at Sam, Tucker, and Tara surrounding Danny on the ground and rushed towards them.

Sam held Danny's arm as he tried to lift himself up.

"Danny, are you okay?" she said.

He groaned. "It felt like…poison on my back."

"Well, the good thing is you look like you're already starting to heal," Tara said as she scanned his back. His suit was ripped in claw-like formations, but his cuts merely glistened with faint, green blood.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," Sam said.

"Thanks for getting her, Dani. I owe you one," Danny said.

"Eh, it was no big," she said.

xxxxxxxx

Sam dipped her fingertips inside a small pot and rubbed the white substance over Danny's bare cuts. He winced.

"I know, but this cream is really going to help the scrapes. And…" Sam then kissed Danny's cheek, "…It's all natural, vegan, and fair-trade."

Danny chuckled. "Of course it is."

They remained quiet for a few minutes as Danny sat shirtless on the edge of Sam's bed, while Sam patted the scratches behind him with the cream.

"Man, she really did a number on you," she said.

"Yeah. Is it just me, or are these ghosts starting to get stronger? I've never felt any pain like this before."

"You mean, besides the fights with Pariah Dark, Vlad Plasmius, and your evil future self from another dimension? Yeah, these normal day-to-day ghosts are getting stronger."

"Heh,  _ normal day-to-day  _ ghosts. Can't believe we're actually saying that."

"A couple years ago we wouldn't imagine saying that."

Danny turned to look at her, ocean-blue eyes staring into her amethyst ones. "A couple years ago, I wouldn't believe we were going to get together."

"And get married…" she said as she inched closer to him.

"And have a kid together…"

"And I get to kiss you like this…" she whispered.

Danny passionately crashed his lips into hers. As he massaged her mouth with his lips and teeth, Sam moaned and laced her hands into his black hair. He pushed her onto her back.

"Wait," she said breathlessly as he kissed and nibbled her neck. "Aren't you in pain?"

"I'm feeling much better now. Thank you," he murmured.

"Good. I don't want you to be hurt," she said as she closed her eyes. He then reached a hand to massage a breast over her shirt.

"I love you," she said.

She could feel Danny freeze on top of her.

He looked into her eyes. "You haven't said that to me yet."

She shrugged. "I told you I had my own way of doing things."

He blinked a couple times.

"Do you…" she began, redirecting her eyes away from his gaze. "…Do you love me?"

He blinked again, then smiled.

His hand reached over to cup her cheek, making her look back at him.

"Of course I do. I've been waiting to tell you that since the first week we were dating."

"Really?" she stammered.

"Really," he said confidently.

He started to kiss all over her face.

"Say it…" she sighed.

"I love you."

She smiled wide. "I love you, too."

"I love you, Sam."

"I love you, Danny. I can't believe this."

"Better believe it."

"Can you…stay the night?"

He shot his head back at her.

" _ Not _ like that."

"I was about to say, I thought you wanted to take it slow."

"But just…stay and sleep with me?"

"Hmmm…"

Danny stood up from the bed and made a pensive face. He then grinned.

"Oh, yeah!"

Danny closed his eyes, and a white glow formed around him. In an instant, Danny became two. The copy turned ghost and phased through the walls of Sam's room.

"And now, my parents will see me in my bed tonight."

"Nice. You know, while we're on the subject, that duplication power might come in handy in…oh, maybe about a year."

Danny's cheeks turned red.

"I…I…"

"I'm just kidding!" she said with a laugh.

She climbed over the covers and opened the sheets for him.

"Ha, yeah. Okay," he said as he chuckled nervously.

He crawled in and wrapped his arms around Sam's torso.

"…but I might not be."

"Sam!"

"Goodnight, Danny. I love you."

"Goodnight, Sam…I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

The night air of Amity Park would've felt cold against anyone's skin; but at the speed at which Tara was flying, the wind especially nipped her.

"Ooh, it's chilly tonight…" she said as she rubbed her invisible arms.

She looked down at the town. At ten o'clock on a weekday night, there was hardly anyone on the streets. Cars were neatly parked either in a single row on the streets or in driveways. A few houses had a room or two with the lights on; the rest of the homes were so dark, they blended against the onyx sky.

"Come on, let's get her out of her car seat…" came a deep voice.

Tara stopped flying and looked down at a red van underneath her. A man and woman huddled over the backseat, fidgeting with something inside.

"Poor baby fell asleep the whole drive home," the woman said.

She then pulled out of the car a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.

"It's cold. Let's get her into bed," the man said.

Tara watched as the man put his arm around the woman and walked her to the front door.

"Now, where did I put my keys?" the man said as he patted each of his jean pockets.

"Oh, honey!"

Tara looked away sadly and flew further into town.

She was just about to pass City Hall when she noticed that a light in one of the rooms was still on. She floated to the window where the light was coming from.

There was Tucker, typing away at his laptop.

She smiled, then phased through the wall.

"Boo," she said as she became visible.

Tucker's whole body convulsed, causing Tara to bend over in howling laughter.

"Tara!" Tucker said with a hand over his chest. "Jeez, were you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!"

"Oh, man! You should've seen the look on your face! Priceless!"

Tucker folded his arms. "Ha ha ha. Very funny. Anyway, what are you doing out so late?"

"Relax, it's only, like, 10 pm. Back home, I usually fly around town when I can't get to sleep. What are  _ you _ doing out so late?"

"I'm finishing up some paperwork," he said as he looked back at his computer screen. He sighed. "I hate this part of the job."

"Yeah, no kidding. Wanna take a break and go for a walk with me?"

“You know what, that does sound good right about now.”

xxxxxxxxx

The two of them strolled side-by-side down the empty sidewalk, with only the occasional lampposts lighting their way.

A breeze rolled by, and Tara shivered. Tucker looked at her.

"You're cold, aren't you?"

"I'm fine, really…"

But it was too late; Tucker already took off his coat and swung it over Tara's shoulders.

Tara chuckled. “Thanks. You know, you did the same thing for me one time when I was a little girl.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I must’ve been like five- or six-years-old at the time. You took me and Vanessa out to the movies, and she had her jacket on, but I had stupidly left mine in the car. So when we came out of the movies, it was freezing, and you gave me your jacket so I wouldn’t catch a cold.”

“Aww…”

They walked a little further in the silence.

"So…what exactly were you working on?" Tara asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I'm just trying to see where I can pull in money to build additional lampposts. Amity Park's generally a safe place, but I think more light at night would make people feel better."

"That definitely doesn't sound like 'nothing much'!"

He shrugged. "Eh. It's not one of my bigger projects, and it's definitely not something I'll be remembered for, you know?"

"Why do you say you won't be remembered for that? You don't know that! And, why are you concerned about what will make you famous? I don't know if you know this already, but you're  _ Amity Park's youngest mayor ever _ ."

"Yeah, but that just stacks the cards against me. Some people are saying that because I'm young and inexperienced, I'm not fit for the job. I'm trying to prove them wrong."

"Your accomplishments are helping people, and that's what's important. Even if your name disappears and someone else eventually becomes mayor, those lampposts will still be here, making people feel comfortable about walking around at night."

"Heh, look at you, being the voice of reason and making me sound like some kind of hero. You really are Sam and Danny's kid," he said with a chuckle.

Tara said in a soft voice, "I get the feeling you don't think you're a good mayor."

Tucker shot his head at her.

"Hey, it's just a feeling…" she started.

"No, you're right. I'm glad that somebody finally said it."

"Well, why didn't  _ you _ say it?"

Tucker sighed. "I didn't want it to blow up. I can just see it in the headlines now…" He then deepened his voice. " _ NEWSFLASH: Mayor Foley Isn't Confident in his Job! Should We Get Someone Else to Replace Him? _ "

Tara nodded. "I hear ya…"

"I tried giving hints to the people close to me, but they didn't really seem to get it. They've just been like, 'Oh, you're fine, Tuck!' 'You're doing awesome, Tucker!' 'Keep up the good work!'"

"Yeah. There's a lot of pressure with this job."

"I mean, I knew there was going to be pressure. I just didn't think it would be  _ this _ much."

They followed a cement trail to a park, and the silence came back.

"All I can say is you shouldn't worry so much," Tara finally said. "You'll do an excellent job."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're better than you think."

They reached a rusted metal play structure, and Tara stopped dead in her tracks.

"Swings! Yes!" she yelled as she ran towards them.

"Swings? Seriously?" he said with a laugh.

She sat on the seat and kicked her feet off the floor.

"You have a problem with swings?"

"No, of course not. It's just with you being half-ghost and all, you don't need a swing set to feel like you're touching the sky. You practically already do that."

She started to swing.

"I dunno. There's just something magical about them. They make me feel like a kid again. Come here and sit next to me!"

He crossed his arms. "You know, if the media found me, they'd be all over this story of their mayor swinging on a swing set with a strange girl late at night."

"But good thing they're not. So, get over here."

He smiled. "Fine then."

"My dad used to take me all the time to the park when I was little," she said as Tucker situated himself on the swing next to her. "I always asked him to push me on the swings. I knew I could do it myself, but…I don't know. I guess I just wanted to be treated like a princess and have someone else do it for me." Tara laughed.

"When did they find out you were half-ghost?"

"Not too long after I was born. Apparently I phased through my crib once."

"Wow. Yeah, I'll bet that gave them a big scare."

"They moved my crib to their room after that, to keep an eye on me. My dad taught me since I was little how to control my powers."

"…Was it weird, knowing you were different from everyone else at such a young age?"

"I was afraid of my powers at first, but Dad kept telling me they were powers of good that could help a lot of people. I really looked up to him. Still do."

"I can tell."

"I don't even want to think about what he'll say when he finds me and the broken time machine," she said, looking at her feet.

"Hey, don't get like that…uh…Tell me more about my future! So I have a daughter, right? Vanessa? Is she an only child? Who's the future Mrs. Foley? Is she nice? Talented? Successful?"

She grinned at him. "Yeah, Vanessa. She's an only child. And her mom was all of that and so much more."

“Wait,  _ was _ ?” His face started to drop. "What do you mean?"

"Um…"

"Come on, Tara. You  _ have  _ to tell me, now that you've said something like this."

"I can't…"

"Tara! Please, tell me."

She sighed. Finally, she turned back to him.

"I'm only going to tell you this because maybe you'll be able to prevent this, but…Mrs. Foley is dead."

"What?" he stuttered.

"Tucker, I'm  _ so  _ sorry."

"H…how?"

"Car crash. She got hit by a drunk driver when Vanessa and I were little kids."

He kicked the sand underneath his swing.

"What is it with my bad luck with women?! Why is it that the one girl I manage to keep, she  _ dies _ ? Why?"

"Tucker, I…"

He jumped off the swing.

"I should get home. It's late. I'm sorry…I'll walk you back to Sam's, if you want."

She stepped off the swing. "I know my way back from here. It's okay. I'm really sorry…"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Tucker shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried from the swings.


	9. Chapter 9

"There's a concert coming up in two weeks. I don't know if you want to see it with me though; it's a gothic metal band," Sam said as she threaded her fingers through Danny's hair.

Danny, who was lying down on the grass with his head on her thigh, shrugged.

"If you wanna go see them…Tell you what, we'll go to your concert, and then later we'll go somewhere I choose for a date."

"Fair enough."

"Hey guys!"

Tara ran up to the tree they were at and sat next to them.

"Tara!" Danny said, shooting up from Sam's leg and blushing. "What's up?"

"Not much. I hope I didn't interrupt anything…"

"No!" Danny said.

"You're good!" Sam said.

"It's fine!"

"You’re fine!"

"Okay…" Tara said.

Sam rubbed the back of her neck and cleared her throat.

"Uh, so, Tara! Have you heard anything from the future?"

"Ugh, nothing yet. Trust me, if I heard anything, I'd come running to you guys."

An ear-piercing screech came from not too far away.

"Ohmygosh, it's DANNY PHANTOM!"

A group of at least ten teenaged girls appeared in front of them, wearing pink and purple shirts with Danny's ghost face on them.

A blonde girl with braces turned to the brunette next to her.

"Eek! Ohmygosh, Jenny, you're right, it is!" she said, spraying spit from her braces everywhere.

"Oh, no. Not again…" Sam groaned.

"Uh…hi?" Danny said with a quick wave.

The girls made a high-pitched squeal again, and Sam covered her ears.

"Paulette! Did you hear that? He actually said  _ hi _ to us! He acknowledges our presence!"

"He's soooo down-to-earth for a celebrity!"

"And so  _ gorgeous _ up close!"

From the center, a red-haired girl pushed her way to the front.

"Out of my way! Wait!"

When she made it out of the cluster, she turned back at them.

"Okay, okay, no, everyone,  _ shhhh! _ "

When they got quiet, she spun on her heel back to Danny, Sam, and Tara.

"Phew! Okay,  _ so _ , hi, I'm Dana. And to my left is Jenny…"

"Hi!"

"And Abby…"

"Hey!"

"And Paulette…"

"Hello!"

"And then that's Shontelle…"

"Hiya!"

"And over there's Abigail…"

"Danny, why aren't you running?" Sam hissed.

"I want to be polite," he whispered.

"You were polite by saying hi. Now, get out of here, before they tear your shirt apart and sell each piece on the internet!"

"…And then finally, that's Acacia! But anyways, yeah, okay, so, we're, like, your  _ biggest _ Phangirls from California."

"We hitchhiked all the way here!" one girl in the back screamed.

" _ Hitchhiked _ ?" Danny said.

The girls screamed again.

"He  _ spoke _ to us again!"

"He's got the voice of an angel!"

"Oh my gosh, he's not half-ghost, he's half- _ angel _ !"

Dana snapped her fingers. "Somebody write that down. I smell a new shirt idea!"

"Got it!" someone else yelled.

"O…kay…" Danny said, inching further away.

"Anyways, so, we came all the way here to see your hometown…"

"And hopefully see you!" the girl with the braces said.

"And guess what? We did!" Dana said, and the girls giggled.

"What a surprise," Sam said. "You go to a  _ small town _ where your  _ teenage _ idol lives and find him there.  _ Shocker _ ."

Dana crossed her arms.

"Hey, I know you. You've shown up in pictures walking and holding hands with Danny."

"Good to know there's still some stalkers left here. I have to know, did they catch my good side?" she said, turning her head left and right.

Dana furrowed her eyebrows, then turned back to Danny.

"Danny, if you ever need a more optimistic girl in your life, give us a call, okay? We'll be next in line."

" _ Wow _ . Okay, no thanks," Danny said.

"Hey, you don't marry the first girlfriend you have."

"Wanna bet?" Sam said under her breath.

"Um, Danny?" a girl said. "Could I have a selfie with you?"

That was when the group burst.

"Not until he takes a picture with  _ me _ !"

"No,  _ me _ !"

"I'm the biggest Phangirl, so  _ I _ should get the first pic!"

"What do you mean  _ you're  _ the biggest Phangirl?! It's obviously  _ me _ !"

"What?!"

"Wait, where did he go?"

All ten pairs of eyes focused on the female duo sitting on the floor.

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, I think he went that way," Tara said, pointing towards downtown.

"Mr. Phantom, sir, wait!" a girl screamed.

The crowd mobbed into the town, leaving Sam and Tara in their dust.

As soon as they were gone, the girls looked at the space between the two of them.

_ Bink! _ Danny appeared.

The three fell on the floor in hysterics.

"Oh man, I can't believe they fell for that!" Tara said, holding her sides tighter as she laughed more.

"I can. You didn't notice how dumb they were this whole time?" Sam said.

Danny chuckled. "Yeah. The one good thing about being a half-ghost celebrity? Being able to disappear at will."


	10. Chapter 10

Hours later, Tara stood in front of the time machine, now a mess that was shoved to a corner of the lab. She searched through the parts, holding each piece up at a time.

"Maybe if I put this together with  _ this _ …and connect it to  _ that _ thing…ugh, how am I going to stick them together?…Super glue?"

The clattering sounds of the parts being shuffled through made her unaware of Tucker coming down the stairs behind her.

"Super glue? Really?" she said to herself. She smacked her head with her palm. "Come on, Tara! Think, think,  _ think _ !"

Tucker smirked. He tiptoed up to her.

"Okay, maybe not super glue…maybe a hot glue gun? Wait, isn't that the same thing? Ugh! This isn't paper-mache, Tara! Oh man, if this is the best I can think of, I'm never getting myself back home…"

" _ Aaaaahhh _ !" Tucker gave a deafening scream.

" _ Aaaaahhh _ !" Tara screamed back, triggering her into her ghost self.

"Hahahahaha!"

Tara turned around.

"Tucker!" she said and changed back to her normal, human self. "That wasn't funny!"

"Yeah it was! Oh, come on. Don't look so angry. You know that was funny."

"Not when I'm working!"

"You did the same thing to me last night,  _ remember _ ?"

Tara blinked, then dropped her hands, curled up in fists, from her hips.

"Ah, crud."

"Exactly. Anyway, you seemed too hard on yourself just now. You'll get out of here, just leave it to your parents. And, if worst case scenario you don't, you're always welcome to be the fourth member of our group."

"Ha! Really?"

"Yeah! You're pretty awesome. And you've got a good sense of humor."

"Huh. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

"Yeah! Oh, I got my jacket back. Thanks."

"Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything," she said with a smile.

"Uh huh," he said, catching on to her teasing tone. "So how did it get in my room, on my bed?"

"Probably sprouted legs and ran over there?"

"Oh yeah. Totally plausible."

Tara laughed out loud with Tucker.

All of a sudden, her face dropped.

"Hey, we're good, right? From yesterday?"

"Yeah, we're good. I'm sorry I stormed off like that. It was really immature. Let's just forget about that, okay?"

"I'd like that."

"Great! Great."

"So, what are you doing down here?"

"We’re actually all looking for you. I’m going to send Danny a text right now that I found you."

He pulled out his phone and quickly texted a message.

“Wanna hang out until they get here?” he said.

Tara grinned.

xxxxxxxxx

"Wait, wait, and you and Vanessa  _ still _ ate it?"

"Yup!"

"Wow, Tara! You two are a fearless duo!"

Tara laughed. “Hardly! But please don’t ever try to cook turducken ever again."

Suddenly, Danny, in his ghost form, and Sam appeared in front of them.

"Hey guys!" Tucker said. "How are ya--"

“Tara, run!” Danny said.

“What?” Tara said.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a door unlocking and opening.

"Danny! We're home!" Jack yelled.

"My parents!" he whispered. “I saw them on my way here!”

"We gotta hide her," Sam said.

A loud thumping of footsteps came from above them.

"And fast!" Tucker said.

"Danny? You down there?" Jack's voice rang from the top of the stairs.

"Uh, yeah, dad. Right here," Danny stammered.

_ Creak, creak, creak _ ! Jack headed down to the basement.

"Tara! Quick! Turn yourself invisible!" Tucker said.

"Uh, right!"

_ Bink! _

Jack hopped off the last step.

"Danny!…aaaand Sam and Tucker!" he said.

"Hey there, Mr. Fenton!" Tucker said, with nervous enthusiasm. "H-how's it going?"

"Going good, Mr. Mayor. Going good. Hey, why are you sweating so much?"

"Oh, me?" The pitch in his voice raised. "I'm not sweating at all! Am I sweating, Danny? Nah, I just ran over here, that's all! Or maybe it's the heat! Phew! Anyway!"

Behind a very confused Jack, Sam signaled a zipper-like action across her mouth and Danny made quick cutting motions with his hand against his throat.

"Anyway…" Jack said. He then turned around to Danny and Sam, who quickly stopped their signals and put on angelic, smiling faces.

Maddie suddenly came running down the stairs with a beeping Fenton Finder in her hands. Dani quickly followed.

"Jack, I'm getting an ecto-reading in our house!"

"What?!" He looked at the screen with Maddie.

"Are-are you sure it's not just a reading of me? Or Dani?" Danny said.

"I've already got your DNA in the Fenton Finder, as well as Dani's. There's no way it could recognize any of you as a threat," Maddie said.

Dani tugged on Tucker's shirt until he bent down to her level.

"What's going on? What's the Fenton Finder picking up on?" she whispered.

" _ Tara _ ."

"Oh, crud!"

The alarm on the gadget suddenly became fainter.

"It's moving! Follow the GPS!" Jack yelled.

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Dani rushed up the stairs.

"Kids, wait up! I want to take the first whack at the intruding ghost! Maddie, grab the weapons!"

The teenagers reached the first floor of the house.

"Spread out!" Danny said.

They nodded and ran to cover different areas of the house.

"Tara?" Danny whispered as he searched the living room.

Sam walked around the kitchen. "Tara?"

Dani and Tucker went upstairs.

"Tara!" Tucker said as he crossed the hallway.

Dani opened the door to her room. She sighed with relief.

"Tucker! Tucker, get over here! I found her!"

From underneath the bed, Tara poked her head out.

"Thank goodness it's just you."

"Did you really think hiding under the bed would keep you from getting caught? Your hair was sticking out! Whatever, you've just gotta get out of here!"

Tucker ran into the room.

"I'm so sorry," Tara said as Tucker helped her up. "I panicked. I didn't know where to go."

"That's okay, Tara. We just gotta figure a place where you can hide until we can come and get you."

"It's upstairs!" Jack boomed.

"Eep!" Tara squealed.

"Let's go!" Dani whispered.

Tucker pushed on Tara's back and moved her out of the room. Dani opened the door to Jazz's room at the end of the hallway.

"Come on, come on, come on!" she hissed. She quickly shut the door once Tara ran in.

Jack and Maddie finally reached the top of the stairs.

"Now, where is that little runner?" Jack said.

"Ghost directly ahead. Walk forward," spoke the Fenton Finder.

"Dad! Hey! H-have you guys tried looking in my room? Or-or-or Danny's room?" Dani stuttered.

"But, sweetie, the Fenton Finder isn't telling us to go left or right. It's saying to go straight," Maddie said as she walked with Jack towards the end of the hallway.

The beeping sound of the Fenton Finder became more rapid.

"We're getting warmer!" Jack said.

"It's in Jazz's room!" Maddie said, and she grabbed a cannon-shaped weapon from her back.

"No, wait!"

"Get out of the way, Tucker!" Maddie pulled Tucker away from the door.

"HIYAH!" Jack busted the door down with one kick and ran inside.

The room was empty.

"Ghost is out of the homebase. Thank you for using the Fenton Finder."

"What? Well, where is it then?!"

"Oh, let's just forget it, Jack. If it comes back, I'm sure one of our ghost-fighting kids will get it," Maddie said with a disappointed look.

"Aww! But that's no fun."


	11. Chapter 11

The door creaked open into a dark room.

"Tara? Are you in here?" Sam whispered.

"Yeah. I'm here."

Sam flipped the wall switch on.

There was Tara, lying on Sam's bed with her back facing the door.

Sam sighed, then walked towards the bed. She sat on the edge.

"I know I usually like all things dark, but I'd also like my room with just a little bit of light so I can see."

She tried to chuckle; Tara didn't move.

"Okay…uh…you know, the others are looking for you too. They'll be glad to know you're okay!"

"I miss home."

"Yeah," Sam said with a sigh. "I can imagine."

"…There's no place for me here in the past."

"What do you mean?"

Tara shot up into a sitting position facing Sam.

"I don't belong here! Here I am, chased out of my grandparents' home, with no place to go, so I run to my other grandparents' house, only to hide in a room and pretend I don't exist."

"I know the circumstances are…cruddy, to say the least. But we've just got to be patient…"

"I'm tired of being patient! I want to go home to my own bed, to my family who knows everything about me."

She turned back into her fetal position, facing away from Sam.

"It's lonely pretending I don't exist."

Sam could hear the faint sound of sniffling.

"Tara, I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry you feel like this. Unfortunately, we can't change anything. Even if we were to walk around, pretending you were some made-up person from Canada, we would be running the risk of someone, outside the four of us, remembering you. It could throw time off. Not to mention the chaos that could happen once people find out a time machine exists."

"I've ruined everything. You and Danny should've naturally and smoothly gone into marriage. I shouldn't have told anyone their futures; they should've figured it out for themselves. I've learned my lesson. I'll never disobey my dad again."

"Never is a really strong promise. Teens are notorious for breaking the rules."

Sam grabbed a tissue box from the night table next to her.

"Here," she said.

Tara turned her head. She sadly smiled and accepted it.

"Ugh, I'm sorry for being so whiny," she said, wiping her eyes. "It really could've been a lot worse. I'm just glad you guys accepted me."

"Hey, sometimes we've just got to cry it out."

Tara loudly blew her nose.

"I'm hungry," she muttered.

Sam laughed out loud.

"I'll bet. Let's grab something to eat."

xxxxxxxx

The sun was halfway setting on the horizon, painting the sky orange with faint wisps of yellow. The teenage girls sat on top of a green hill, away from the town.

Tara took a second big bite out of her burger.

"Wow!" she said with her mouth full. "They were right! The Nasty Burger hasn't changed its formula in 25 plus years!"

Sam picked up a fry. "I can't believe I couldn't make you into a vegan, like me." She then tossed it into her mouth.

"Well, I am vegan at home. But I cheat when I'm with friends," Tara said with a laugh.

Sam shook her head, but smiled.

"Sam! Tara! Hey!" Danny called from above them.

He planted his feet on the ground and turned back to normal.

"I was looking all over for you guys," he said as he took his place next to Sam, his right shoulder leaning against her left.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot to text you! Sorry about that. I just made a quick stop at the Nasty Burger to get me and Tara something to eat. Wait, what about Tucker?"

"Yeah, where is he?" Tara asked.

Danny looked towards town. "Uh…"

They could soon hear someone panting from below them.

It was Tucker, huffing and puffing his way up the hill.

"There he is," Danny said sheepishly.

When Tucker finally made it up the hill, he bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air.

"Dude!…you totally…oh man, give me a sec here."

He inhaled deeply and then stretched his back into an upright position.

"Okay! Right, as I was saying…dude, you totally lost me back there!"

"I'm  _ really _ sorry, Tucker. I didn't mean to."

"The next time you go, 'Hey! There they are!' you tell me exactly  _ where _ 'there' is! And you give me a lift up the hill! I hate hills."

"Why? Because your vitamin-deficient body from the lack of vegetables doesn't allow you to climb them?" Sam said, smirking.

"Hey! N-no!"

They laughed as Tucker finally sat down.

Suddenly, a metallic boomerang hit Tara on the back of her head.

"Gah!" she yelled and fell face first onto the ground.

"Tara! Are you okay?" Sam exclaimed.

"Ow…" Tara quietly groaned.

"What  _ was _ that?" Tucker said as he looked around.

Danny jumped up and scanned around.

A gray color glimmered from his peripheral vision.

"Danny, is that…the 'Boo-merang'?" Sam said as she watched him pick it up.

"…It is."

He held it in his hands, feeling the texture in his hands, and turning it over.

"But it's different. It looks busted."

Tara lifted her head.

"Wait. Let me see."

"It's heavy," Danny said as he carefully handed it to Tara.

"Yeah. I could  _ feel _ that."

She inspected the front side of the boomerang, then flipped it over. She cocked her head to the side.

"There's a button here that says 'Press me'."

"I don't know if you should do it," Tucker said.

Tara gingerly pressed the faded red button.

A small ball of light slowly appeared at the tip of the boomerang. It then floated out and upwards, growing brighter and larger.

Then, a ringing tone.

"What's going on, Tara?" Danny said.

"I'm not sure," she murmured.

Suddenly, a click replaced the ringing sound.

"Tara!" a young girl's voice shrieked.

"Megan? Megan!" Tara screamed as she hopped up from her seated position.

She began to tear up. "Megan, it's me! It's me, Tara!"

"TARA! I missed you!"

"I've missed you  _ so  _ much, Megan!"

"Hey," Danny whispered. "Who's Megan?"

"Uh…my little sister."

"LITTLE SIS—"

Tucker quickly covered Sam's mouth.

"Tara, what was that?" Megan said.

"Uhhhh no one! No one! Forget about it!"

"Hmm…okey-dokey! Anyhoo, where have you been? You've been gone for days! Did you go on a trip? Why did you need the time machine? I wish you were here. Nes has been giving me the best days  _ EVER _ ! We went to the park, the zoo, we played dress up, and ooh! We even went into the city and got ice cream! You should've been here!"

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry for missing out, Megan."

"She hasn't been going to school. Nope! Just taking me to school and then playing with me the rest of the day!" She giggled.

Tara winced. "Oh. I feel really bad."

"Mommy and Daddy haven't been going to work either. They've been in the basement aaaaaaaall day!"

"Oh man. Now I feel  _ awful _ ."

There was a pause.

"…Mommy cried the other night. I think she misses you."

"Oh, no. I'm so, so sorry, Megan. I'll make this right somehow, I promise."

"Hey, you wanna hear a song I just learned in school today? F IS FOR FRIENDS WHO—"

"Megan? Are you down there?" a teenaged voice called.

"Guess who I'm talking to, Nes!" she said in singsong.

There was a sigh, then loud, slow footsteps.

"I leave you for five seconds to go to the bathroom…"

"Vanessa!" Tara screamed.

The footsteps stopped, then sprinted down the stairs.

"Tara? Is that you?"

"Heeeeeyyyy, I wasn't done singing my song!" Megan whined.

"Megan, go upstairs and find your parents. Tell them it worked!"

"What worked?"

"Never mind what, just GO!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh!" There was a sound of tiny, quick steps.

"Tara! Oh my goodness, are you okay? What happened? Where are you? Were you trying to kill me or somethin'?!"

"I am SO sorry, Vanessa. I…"

"Do you have ANY idea what you've put me through?! I had to miss out on school, girl! I am  _ so _ behind now! And when I'm not playing nanny with your sister, I'm building a new time machine with my dad and your folks!"

"Yikes."

"Yikes doesn't even begin to describe it. You owe me big time, girl. Oh, and congratulations. That girl Elle from your pre-calc class? Yeah, she told me Mrs. Dunham passed back the tests, and she saw you got an A-."

"Oh. That's not bad."

"Yeah, not bad at all. Hold on, I hear someone else coming down."

The tiny footsteps returned, along with larger strides.

"Oooooh!" Megan squealed. "Tara, you're in troubleeeee!"

"Vanessa, get Megan out of here. Please," a firm, feminine voice said in the background.

"Ooh, girl. Your mom doesn't look too happy…"

Sam's eyes widened.

There were sounds of chairs shifting.

"Hello? Hello?" a woman's voice said clearly.

"Uh…Hey there, Mom…"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

The entire group cringed at the sound of her mother's screaming.

"HOW could you do this to us?! Do you even have a  _ clue _ about what kind of  _ hell _ you've made us go through?! I raised you to be smart! I raised you to be  _ better  _ than this! Your father tells you the time machine is unfinished and unpredictable. ON WHAT PLANET is that the 'go-ahead' to use it?!"

"Mom, I'm…"

"Save it. Your dad's here."

There was a pause with some shifting sounds.

"Well," Tucker said. "Guess it's your turn to hear how you sound in the future, Danny."

Danny inched closer to the white sphere pulsating with each sound it plays.

Then, finally…

"Tara."

"Dad?"

"I'm not going to yell at you," the mature voice said calmly. "I want to. I could. But I'm not going to. I think your mom said everything I wanted to say. And I think she'll have plenty more to say to you when you get home."

"You'll be grounded  _ forever _ !" older Sam screamed in the background.

"Yeah, you're pretty much grounded for life, Tara."

Tara sighed. "I understand…"

"I'm just glad you're safe."

"How did you find me, Dad?"

"Well, it's been a long process. First, Tuck, your grandparents, and I tried to design a new time machine, while your mom went to find Clockwork for help.

“The strange thing is she couldn't find him. Even his observer assistants were gone. His castle was empty."

"Wait, Dad, that doesn't sound good."

"It doesn't, and that's something I'll look into later. Right now, getting you home is my biggest priority.

“So, like I was saying, she went there, couldn't find him, then returned home. And while she was gone, something really weird happened, but it helped me find you. I  _ remembered _ ."

"You remembered?"

"I remembered where you were."

Present Danny gasped. "Of course! Tara altered the time stream!"

There was a silence on the other end.

"Tara, is my younger self there with you?"

"What, you don't remember, Dad?"

"There seems to be a delay with my memory. It's the same thing with your mom and Uncle Tuck."

"Well, yeah, he's here. Along with Sam and Tucker. Or, rather, younger Sam and Tucker."

"Uh…hi?" present Danny said.

"Hey, Danny…er, younger me. This is really weird."

"It really is," present Danny chuckled.

"How much of the future has Tara altered?" present Sam asked.

"Oh, hi, Sam. Wow, your teenage voice is something I haven't heard in a long time. Anyway, it seems like she hasn't altered anything. Everything's the same."

"Dash?" Tara asked.

"Still a bum."

"…Mrs. Foley?"

"…That didn't change either, honey."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"I don't get it, either. Let's not think about that right now, though. I want to get to how we found you."

"Right. So?"

"So, as I was saying, I remembered. I ran upstairs and it turned out Tucker remembered too. Your mom told us she felt it while flying to Clockwork. When she came home and told us Clockwork wasn't there, we went straight to work on Plan B—going to the past with a new time machine and picking you up. The best thing would've been to have your mom sent to the past by Clockwork and get you that way.

“Then Tucker had a brilliant idea to try to at least get in contact with you. We took the old Boo-merang and used the technology that would serve as the basics for the new time machine."

"So this Boo-merang is like a prototype."

"Exactly. We didn't need to throw it farther into the past and wait for it to catch up to you. We found a way to make it open a time portal and just go directly where it needs to go.

“Now that we know it works, we're going to use that technology to build the time machine."

"So how much longer will I stay here?"

"That I'm not sure. I don't think it'll be much longer though, now that we've figured out the most complicated part. To build the rocket, I want to say…maybe a day or two?"

"A day or two? Perfect!"

"We'll be working the full 24 to 48 hours. I won't stop until you're safe and sound at home, Tara. Actually, it'll be more like safe and sound in your room without Wifi."

"NOOOO, Dad!"

"If you think that's bad," older Sam exclaimed, "I promise to have you on a strict schedule as part of your punishment.  _ I _ will drive you to school and  _ I _ will pick you up, like when you were in elementary school. And if Vanessa wants to hang out, it'll have to be over at  _ our _ house."

"Aw, Mom! Please!"

"Don't you 'Aw, Mom' me!"

"Okay, okay, you two," older Danny said. "Tara, I'll see you at home soon. I promise."

"Okay, Dad. I love you."

"I love you too, hon. Your mom loves you too, you know, even if she's mad at you right now."

"I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!"

"I love you too, Mom."

"Keep the Boo-merang. We'll contact you through that."

"'Kay. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Tara."

The orb disappeared. There was silence between the four.

"Well," Tucker finally said. "That was an interesting phone call. How do you feel, Tara?"

He looked over at her, but she was just smiling at where the orb used to be.

"Uh, Tara?"

"I'm going home," she finally whispered.

She then jumped up and screamed louder.

"I'm going home!"


	12. Chapter 12

The moon, so vibrantly white and full, reflected light into Sam's room and onto her bed that night.

"She's going home," Sam whispered.

"I know," Danny whispered back.

He looked into her violet eyes, which pierced through the darkness of midnight. With her hands in his, he gave them a light squeeze.

"I'm gonna miss her," she said.

"Me too. But we'll see her again. After all, she is our kid."

She chuckled. "Yeah. It is a long time to wait, ‘though."

"But, Sam!" Danny said with feigned surprise. "We're not ready to be parents yet!"

She removed one hand from his and playfully slapped his arm.

"Ow!"

"Shhh!" Sam said. "You don't want to wake up my parents."

"Then don't slap me!"

"Then don't say stupid things!"

"Fine," he chuckled. "You got me there."

Sam sighed and rolled onto her back, with one hand still in his.

"But seriously. I really like her. We did a good job."

"Yeah…except for the part where she stole a time machine and crashed herself into another time."

"She's fourteen. We did some dumb things when we were fourteen."

"Like convince me to go inside a ghost portal."

"And then actually going  _ in _ it."

"I have no idea where she gets it from."

"Neither do I."

They laughed as quietly as they could.

"Hey Sam?"

She turned her head towards him, allowing the glow of the moonlight to curve around her head.

"Yeah?"

His cheeks flushed and he gulped.

He then slowly leaned in towards her lips, and Sam closed her eyes.

"Danny…"

All of a sudden, his ghost sense went off. Their eyes snapped open.

"No way. Now?" he said.

He immediately got off the bed and turned into his ghost form.

"I'll change and meet up with you," Sam said.

"Okay. See you soon."

Danny then flew out the window.

Out in the open air, he looked around his surroundings. The streets were empty. All of the houses had their lights off. Nothing ghost-like seemed to be flying through the air.

"That's weird," he said. "Everything seems normal around here. Where…"

"Hello."

Danny looked downwards.

A little green girl in black pigtails and a white nightdress looked up at him from the middle of the street. She held a brown stuffed bear in her arms.

"You can fly."

"Uh…yeah," he said as he swooped down in front of her. "Can I help you?"

"I can fly too. See?" She then lifted off the ground a few inches.

"That's really good! Now, where's your mom and dad? Are they in the ghost zone?"

"This is my bear, Stuffy. Say hi, Stuffy." She held the bear out and waved its stubby arm.

"That's nice. We should probably get you back to your parents. They must be worried."

"Play with me first."

"You know, that sounds like  _ so _ much fun, but it's my bedtime, and probably yours too." He stretched out his hand. "Come on, let's get you home."

Her face twisted into a frown.

"I said…"

Her eyeballs turned red.

"Play…"

Her hair broke out of the hair ties and floated wildly above her head.

"With…"

Her voice became gradually deeper.

"Me…"

She strangled her teddy bear's neck with both hands.

"NOW!" she rumbled.

The girl tossed the stuffed animal behind her and lunged after Danny at blinding speed. He instinctively brought up his arms and caught her hands, only for her to flip over his head and pull him with her.

"Aah!" he screamed as the ghost flung him down the street. He landed with a  _ thump! _

"Dang," he said while rubbing his head. "For a little kid, she's got bodybuilder strength."

"Danny!"

Danny looked towards where he heard the voice. There was Sam, in front of her house.

"Sam, be careful! Where's the thermos?" he yelled.

"It's right…"

But before she could finish her sentence, the girl swooped Sam up from her feet.

"Aaaaah!" she shrieked as they flew higher and higher into the sky.

"Sam!" Danny pushed himself off the ground and followed their track.

Up in the air, Sam struggled to fight out of the ghost's tight grasp.

"Ugh! Where are you taking me?!"

"To plaaaay, silly-willy! Somewhere faaaar away where we can play!"

"Put me down  _ now _ !"

"Noooooo!" she said teasingly in a sing-songy voice. She giggled.

"Alright, then. I don't want to have to do this…"

Sam pressed a button from the Fenton Wrist-Ray and quickly aimed it at the ghost's face. Out shot a green beam onto the girl's forehead.

"Agh!" the girl screamed as her head knocked backwards, and she dropped Sam.

"DANNY!"

The stars, which appeared almost touchable when she was riding with the ghost, now seemed farther and farther away with each passing second. She quickly zoomed past the tops of buildings.

The falling sensation ended abruptly.

"I got you."

She looked around her. A white glove cradled her legs, another held her back. She looked up. Danny had a concentrating look about him as he headed towards the ground.

"You know, you guys are going to have to build a Fenton Trampoline that magically appears underneath me every time I fall from the sky," she said once they landed.

"Ha," Danny said sarcastically. "Fenton Thermos please?"

Sam unhooked it from the hem of her skirt and handed it to Danny.

"PLAY WITH ME!"

They looked up and saw the girl, with her hair flying madly behind her, speeding towards them.

"Perfect shot."

Danny quickly uncapped the thermos and turned it on.

"Noooooo!" she screeched as she swirled like a tornado into the thermos.

Finally, she and the green beam disappeared. Danny twisted the top on.

Suddenly, a loud, collective cheer came from around the two teens.

People from their windows shouted and applauded.

"That was amazing!"

"Our heroes!"

"You sure showed that ghost, Danny Phantom!"

"SAMANTHA. MANSON."

Sam cringed at the sound of her name.

"Oh, great," she whispered as she turned her head towards her house.

Her parents, in their brightly-colored plaid pajama sets, stood at the front door.

"Inside. NOW," her mother said, pointing towards the house.

Sam just grumbled.


	13. Chapter 13

The stars gave off a faint light outside the guest bedroom. A few fireflies danced at the closed window. Tara wrapped herself in her blankets like a butterfly in its cocoon.

Inside her head, she was screaming.

There was nothing—no sights, no sounds except for her voice, only blackness. Tara ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't tell if she was going anywhere. The blackness never seemed to change.

"Help me!"

She jumped, but instead of flying, she started to slowly float upwards.

"Come on, go faster! Fly, darn it!"

Suddenly, the blackness shook all around her at the sound of a low laughter.

Then, a pair of red eyes, 20 times her size, opened in front of her.

"Dad…"

Tara's eyelids flew open.

The light of the day peeked through the blinds. She could hear birds excitedly chirping outside her window.

She sat up and hugged her legs into her chest.

"Oh my gosh," she said as she ran her fingers through her bed hair. "What the heck was that about?"

"Tanya!" came a yell from downstairs.

"Coming!"

Tara leaped off the bed and hurried into the guest bathroom.

After a while, she came out of her room, fully clothed except for her shoes, which were in her hand. She hopped down the stairs, trying to put one flat on at a time.

"Why can't Sam come out?"

"She has been punished, due to last night's event," Mrs. Manson exclaimed.

"Last night's event?"

"Well  _ surely _ you heard about the fight last night between Danny Phantom and some random ghost…didn't you, Mr. Mayor?"

Tara tucked in a pocket on her baggy blue jeans and ran up behind her future grandmother.

"Good morning, Mrs. Manson! Morning, Tucker!"

Tucker leaned over to look around Mrs. Manson.

"Hey!" he said as he waved.

"More like good  _ afternoon _ , Tanya. It's practically almost noon!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Manson. I guess I overslept today."

"Well, I'm glad  _ someone  _ was able to get  _ some _ sleep last night! All that ruckus last night…why, I'd ought to file an official noise complaint!"

"Well, the way I see it, it could go one of two ways," Tucker said as he crossed his arms. "You can file a noise complaint. Nothing stopping you there; that's every Amity Park citizen's right. However, if I order Danny to stop the fighting, due to said noise complaint, we might experience a  _ flooding _ of raging,  _ violent _ ghosts."

Mrs. Manson winced.

"Or, we could let Danny do his job. That might mean  _ at most _ an hour of noise. But, you know, it keeps us safe."

She sighed and threw her hands up in the air.

"Fine! I won't complain."

"Always a pleasure speaking with you, Mrs. Manson. Come on, Tar—I mean, Tanya."

"Okay! See ya, Mrs. Manson!" Tara said as she ran out the door.

"Be home by seven!" Sam's mother cried out to the two running down the street. "I'm cooking pasta!"

"Wow, you sure showed her, Tucker," Tara said when they finally slowed down, far away from the Manson household.

"All in a day's work."

"So, where are we going now?"

"Over to Danny's. His parents are out patrolling the streets."

xxxxxxx

Danny sat on his bed with his cell phone in front of him. Dani sat on the floor, while the others sat on chairs.

"You didn't hear  _ anything _ outside?" Danny asked Tara.

"Nope. I was totally out."

"Did you even feel your ghost sense go off?"

"If it did, I slept through it."

"There's no use asking her these questions, Danny," Sam's voice said from the speaker of Danny's phone. "She wouldn't have been able to help anyways, since we're trying to keep her on the DL…"

"Yeah, I know. I just find it…odd."

"I  _ know _ my ghost sense didn't go off," Dani said. "How did yours?"

Danny blushed.

"He must've been closer to the ghost," Tucker responded.

"But the ghost was in front of Sam's house…that must mean that…"

"Danny was close to Sam's house…" Tara continued Dani's train of thought.

"Or even…" Tucker said.

All three looked at Danny, whose face, at that moment, turned entirely red.

"You know what? I don't even want to know," Dani said.

"I did have a weird dream last night," Tara said.

"A dream?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah…I was running—sprinting, more like it. I was sprinting in this, like, big, black abyss of  _ nothing _ for what seemed like forever."

"Huh," Danny said. "Weird."

"That's not even the weirdest part. I tried to fly, but I was going really, really slowly. And as I rose, I suddenly heard this  _ booming _ laughter. And it was like the darkness was vibrating  _ with _ the laughter.

“And then, these  _ huge _ red eyes opened and looked right at me! But you know what was the craziest thing? Somehow, they reminded me of my  _ dad _ 's eyes. I…I can't explain it. They were like…evil versions of his eyes."

"Maybe you're just scared about being grounded when you get home," Sam said.

"No, it's something more than that. I don't know how to explain it, but there's something else about it."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows.

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from the pocket of Tara's jeans.

_ Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! _ …

"Tara, what is that?" Dani asked.

"It's the Boo-merang," she said as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a metallic square, then unfolded it into its original shape.

"The Boo-merang is…foldable?" Danny asked.

"What? Can it not do that in this time?"

They stared at Tara with blank faces.

"Huh. Guess not," she said.

Tara pressed the red button, and the beeping stopped. The orb formed in front of them again.

"Hey there, sweetheart."

"Mornin', Dad."

"Don't you mean 'afternoon'?"

"You know, Grandma said the same thing half an hour ago! Grandma Manson!"

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!" older Sam laughed in the background.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Oh, Danny," older Sam said in between laughs. "Did you hear that? You're turning into my mother!"

"I am  _ not _ ."

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Alright, alright, let's focus here. I called because we finally finished the rocket."

"Really? That was quick."

"I worked all night."

"Ouch."

"Didn't sleep a wink. Tucker stayed until one this morning, and your mom fell asleep around three."

"Yikes."

"I think I might also take away your cell for this…Anyway, I think we can pick you up today. When can you get away?"

"Wait!" present Sam said. "I want to be there for this!"

"Yeah, you accidentally got her in trouble with her parents, Dad," Tara said.

"Okay then…how 'bout tonight?"

"That might even work better," present Danny said. "Especially because it's dark and we don't want people seeing this."

"Sam, since we'll both be in the house by then, I'll phase us both out, okay?" Tara said.

"Sounds good," she said.

"Alright. There's an abandoned parking lot off the edge of town. Let's meet up there at midnight," present Danny said.

Everyone nodded.

xxxxxxxx

11:44 pm.

Sam lied on her bed, watching intently the red numbers on her alarm clock. She squeezed the pillow in her arms.

"Come on, come on…" she whispered.

11:45 pm.

She rolled off the bed and collected all her pillows. She yanked off her bed sheets, and then placed her pillows in a strategic manner. Sam pulled the sheets over the mound.

The perfect sleeping body.

Sam opened her door just a crack. She noticed that across the hallway, another door was slightly ajar. Green eyes stared back.

Sam dropped to her hands and knees, and crawled to her parents' bedroom in the middle of the two rooms.

She hid just slightly behind the doorframe and peeked inside.

Both of her parents loudly snored in their beds.

Sam looked back at Tara and gave her a thumbs up.

Before she knew it, she was whisked away and holding on to her future daughter's side as they sailed through the night.

"Did you put the pillows in the way that I told you?" Sam asked.

"Yup. And good tip about the basketball, by the way. I used that to make it look like my head."

"Perfect. Now don't you dare use that on me in the future."

"I can't promise you that."

The girls spotted Danny, Dani, and Tucker close to the edge of the lot and landed there.

"You picked the darkest part of the parking lot, didn't you?" Sam said as she gave Danny a quick peck on the cheek.

"Just being extra cautious. I'm glad to see you again, Sam. I've missed you."

"Eww, gross," Dani said.

"Don't even get me started," Tucker said.

Tara pushed the red button, and the orb formed again, followed by a ringing tone. The noise quickly stopped.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, Tara."

"Whaddup, Tartar Sauce?!"

"Hi, Dad. Hi, Mom. Heh, Vanessa's here, too?"

"We're both here," a new voice said.

"Uncle Tuck? Wow!"

"We brought them for backup," older Sam said.

"Dude, I sound  _ awesome _ in the future! My voice is deep and everything!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Heh, yeah, puberty will do that to ya," older Tucker said.

"That's younger you, Dad? Whoa. Crazy."

"How are you all doing?" Tara asked.

Older Danny yawned.

"I'm exhausted. I haven't had a good night's sleep in days,  _ and _ I just had the hardest time getting Megan to stay in bed tonight."

"Oh. Sorr-"

"No more apologies. Let's just get you home!" older Sam said.

"Yeah!"

"You're at the lot right?" older Danny asked.

"Correct," present Sam replied.

"Great. We've punched in the coordinates to that location," older Danny said.

"Keep your eyes peeled for a big rocket coming your way and stay out of its path," older Tucker said.

"Shouldn't be too hard to spot it," Dani said. "You don't see too many of those falling out of the clouds."

"Oh, Danielle," older Danny said. "Just really quick—in our future, Mom and Dad go to a ghost-fighting convention, and I have to take care of you for a week. I'm telling you right now:  _ do not _ , and I repeat,  _ do not _ have the school cafeteria pizza that Wednesday."

"What?" Dani said.

"The heck?" present Danny said.

"You got food poisoning and puked the rest of the day! I had to clean that up!"

"Danny! You are wasting time!" older Sam shouted.

"Sorry, I just had to warn you. Okay, we're back on."

"Danny, can you zip up my suit? Yours is over here…"

"Vanessa, what's going on?" Tara asked.

"Your parents are putting on their protective suits. We have one for you in the rocket."

"Great."

"My dad's setting up the time coordinates now. Oh, hold on, I think your mom wants to talk to you…"

"Put her through."

"Tara?" older Sam said.

"Yeah?"

"We're ready to go now. I love you so much. I'll see you soon."

"Love you too."

"Here's your dad."

There was a sound of chairs scraping the floor.

"Hey, kid. We're about to board. We'll see you in a bit."

"Be safe, both of you. Please."

"Don't worry. Your mom and I are going to get there safe, you'll see. And then we'll take you back home where you'll spend the rest of eternity without your tablet."

"Man, the punishments keep adding up, don't they?"

He laughed. "They didn't have a chapter on 'How to Ground Your Daughter When She Steals Your Time Machine' in the parenting book.

“Alright, I should start heading out. Love ya."

"Me too."

Chairs screeched again.

"Hey, Tar."

"What's up, V?"

"Okay, your parents are going in…the rocket's closing up…hmm…it looks like they're pressing buttons right now?…I'm not sure, it's a little hard to see—"

The group could suddenly hear engines roaring and fires blazing.

"OH MY GOSH, IT'S WORKING, TARA!"

"Yes!"

"Get out of the way, Vanessa!" older Tucker screamed.

"Aaah!"

The noises all at once stopped.

"What…what happened, Vanessa? Vanessa?"

Silence on the other end.

"Van, please, say something! You're scaring me! Vanessa?!"

"I'm here, I'm here. Sorry, I dropped the microphone."

"Well, what happened? Where are they?"

Vanessa laughed.

"It worked, Tara! They're gone! Your basement looks like a total wreck, but they're coming to get you!"

Tara started to tear up.

"I'm coming home!"

"Heck yeah you are!"

Tucker reached over and gave Tara a big hug.

"When should we be expecting them?" present Danny asked.

"Um, let's see…when we sent out the Boo-merang, you guys got it within an hour…so I'd say about an hour or so?"

"Okay, great."

"I'm signing off, but if you need anything, just press the button; Dad and I will be on standby. Girl, I can't believe it. I just watched history happen. Time travel! This is the savviest thing ever!"

xxxxxxxx

To the right of the boomerang, Danny napped peacefully on a patch of grass with Sam's head on his chest. A little farther off, Dani also slept on the ground.

To the left of the boomerang, Tucker watched as Tara paced around in small circles in front of him, her long, thin fingers clawing through her hair.

He shook his head.

"Tara, they're going to make it."

"How do you know?" She quickened her pace. "It's been over an hour, and they still aren't here."

"It's only over an hour by, like…" He checked the time on his phone. "…Five minutes."

"Still! Vanessa said one hour! Wh-what if they die out there? What if I can never return from the past?" She gasped. "What if they leave Megan an orphan? Megan! She's only seven! All alone, without her parents or sister…"

"Tara, calm down."

Tucker stood up and put his hands on Tara's shoulders, halting her movement.

"Chill. Breathe. In…"

Tara inhaled, lifting her shoulders and expanding her chest.

"…and out."

She exhaled.

"Okay. Look," he whispered, "You haven't given them enough time. A rocket is bigger than a boomerang. Maybe it just takes a little longer."

She sighed.

"I really hope that's the case."

"Come on. Just…sit down."

Tucker gently pulled her towards the ground, and they both sat.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Your fears are totally understandable, but we can't do anything about them. All we can do is wait."

"I can't just wait!"

"There's nothing we can do from here. But don't panic. Whatever happens, we'll get through this together."

Tara sighed. "Okay."

She laid back onto the ground. She folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the few white dots in the sky.

Suddenly, there was a faint roaring sound.

"Do you guys hear that?" Dani called out.

Tara sat back up. The noise became clearer.

"Danny! Sam! Wake up!" Tara yelled.

Sam jumped onto her feet.

"What's going on? What did we miss?"

Danny sat up and yawned.

"Couldn't they have given me five more minutes?" he mumbled.

"This is no time to sleep! Look!" Tucker pointed upwards.

A bullet-like contraption tore through the sky, heading downwards.

"It's coming this way!" Dani screamed. "Run!"

She quickly turned ghost and flew towards the other side of the lot.

Tara and Danny looked at each other, then nodded. White rings formed around them, turning them into their ghostly selves. Danny grabbed Sam by the hip and the boomerang, while Tara reached over for Tucker's side. They shot off, following Dani's trail.

The roaring soon became unbearably loud.

Sam looked behind her.

"Here they come!"

Danny looked behind.

The rocket, with its red tip, looked like it was diving headfirst.

"And they look like they're gonna crash!"

Tara stopped.

"No!" she screamed.

The rocket flew downwards at lightning speed. Then, all of a sudden, it curved its path, becoming parallel to the floor.

Wheels popped out underneath it.

It hit the ground once. Twice. Then, it finally landed, making skid marks as it went.

"No way!" Dani cheered. "They did it!"

Parachutes sprung out from behind the rocket.

At last, it came to a halt.

The glass bubble on top of the rocket opened up.

Two different voices coughed.

"Sam!…Sam! Are you okay?" a grown man's voice said from inside.

"…I think so."

"Ha! Just like flying a spaceship. I've still got it!"

"I think I'm going to hurl."

"Mom? Dad?" Tara called.

"Tara?" The feminine voice gasped. "TARA!"

"Wait for me," the man exclaimed.

But the woman already jumped out of the ship.

"MOM!" Tara screamed as she ran towards the woman in the white jumpsuit.

"Tara!" she yelled as she ran towards her daughter.

Older Sam fell to her knees, her long hair completely covering her face, as she met Tara halfway and hugged her.

"Oh, Tara," she said in between tears. "My baby! I'm so happy you're safe!"

"Mom, I missed you so much," Tara said, crying as well.

The teens looked at them, smiling.

"Hey, Tara!" Dani said, breaking the silence. "Mind introducing us?"

"Oh, right!"

Tara and her mother stood up. Older Sam moved her hair out of her face.

"Guys, this is my mom!"

Danny could not help but stare.

Sam not only had the same attractive qualities from when she was a teenager, but her age enhanced them.

She was taller and leaner than her younger self. She no longer wore her hair short; instead, it flowed voluminously wild and free like an onyx waterfall down her back.

Her dark purple eyeshadow and black mascara accentuated her large, violet eyes. Her skin was soft and smooth; she didn't have a single wrinkle on her.

Although Sam was thin, her breasts were larger and her hips were wider than before, no doubt in part due to giving birth to two children.

She wore a silver band on her left ring finger.

"Well, this is a sight I'd never in a lifetime thought I'd see," she said.

"Tara!"

Older Danny picked Tara up from behind and swung her around once.

Tara turned around as soon as she hit the ground.

"Dad!" she said as she threw her arms around her dad's neck.

"See? Told you we'd get here."

"Dad…" she said, choking back a sob. "I was so scared! I thought I'd never see any of you again! I thought I was going to have to spend the rest of my life here in the past! I thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong," he chuckled. "You need to have a little more faith in us." He booped her nose.

Tara released her grip on her father and smiled at him.

Then, her mother frowned and tugged at Tara's ear.

"Oww!"

"What you did was IRRESPONSIBLE! Absolutely THOUGHTLESS! You could've gotten yourself KILLED! I had to skip work and lie not just to my fellow botanists, but also to your school!"

"Oww oww OWW! I'm sorry, Mom! OWW!"

Older Danny turned towards the group of teens.

"Hey, Danny?"

He walked towards his younger self, and present Danny stared back with big, wide eyes.

"I just want to thank you." He looked at everyone else. "All of you. For…everything, really. For taking good care of Tara. I know it's a lot to take in. I'm just so relieved you guys believed her."

"You don't have to thank us," present Danny said. "She's our friend now."

Older Danny smiled.

"Danny! Ready to go?" older Sam said as she zipped up her daughter's suit.

"Uh, here." Present Danny handed the boomerang to his older self.

"Oh, right! Thanks…Heh, you know, you guys look so much younger than I remembered."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

Older Danny chuckled as he headed back towards his family.

"Wait a sec. Let me say goodbye, first."

"Alright," older Danny said as he ruffled her hair.

Tara, now in her white suit matching her parents, jogged over to the group.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"For now. We'll see you again," Danny said.

Sam and Dani threw their arms around Tara.

"We'll miss you," Sam said.

"I'll miss you, too."

"I wish you didn't have to leave," Dani said.

"I know. In a way, I don't want to leave either."

They stepped back, and Tara turned to Tucker.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She walked over to him, then pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks for being my friend," she whispered.

He patted her back and smiled. "Sure thing."

She released him and sighed.

"Alright, Dad. I'm ready to go."

Tara ran back to her parents, who were already in the rocket.

"Let's get going before people wake up," Danny said as Sam reached out her hand and helped Tara inside.

The glass bubble closed itself around the three. The engines started to roar.

Then, the tip of the rocket projected a green oval-shaped portal in front of it.

The rocket levitated, raising its wheels back within itself, and with a blast of its engine, it disappeared into the portal.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello readers! I have a very important author's note at the end of this chapter. Please do read it!

xxxxxx

**_2 Weeks Later…_ **

A black Convertible parked into the Amity Park DMV parking lot.

"She's back!" Tucker said as he pointed the car out to Danny.

Sam, in the driver's seat, nodded along as an Indian woman with a clipboard in the passenger's seat lectured her.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Danny said.

"If they're taking this long, it might not be good news!"

"Or maybe it is. We don't know."

Sam and the other woman stepped out of the vehicle.

"She's coming!" Tucker said.

Sam walked up to the boys sitting on the bench as the woman turned towards the DMV.

Danny stood up.

"So? Did you pass?"

Sam smiled.

"You guys are looking at the newly  _ licensed _ Sam Manson."

"No way! Congrats!" Danny said as he hugged her.

Tucker fist-bumped Sam.

"Awesome! Now we can get rides around town instead of driving those old scooters!"

"Nice try, Tucker, but the DMV lady just went over all the rules with me, and she said I can't drive with anyone younger than 20 years old, unless I have a licensed adult in the car, within my first year of driving."

"What?! That's the dumbest rule I've ever heard!"

"Actually, Tuck, it kinda makes sense," Danny said.

"…Now, if, oh, Danny turns both of you invisible, and you guys ride in the back of my car, then no one would know, right?"

"Woo-hoo!"

"Now don't you think I'm going to give you guys rides to school everyday. I don't want to make Danny use his powers unless it's an emergency."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, emergencies, gotcha," Tucker said as he waved his wrist.

"Well, anyway, I've gotta go back inside to sign some papers. Wanna come in?"

"Sure!" Danny said.

Sam and Tucker ran inside. Just before Danny could reach the door handle, he heard the sound of his own name.

"DANNY!"

He turned around.

"Tara?"

Tara stood in front of him, with her hands on her head, panting.

"Wow…you never realize just how big Amity Park is until you run around trying to find a person…Phew!"

"Tara, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to come back! Not that I'm not happy to see you. It's just, you know, messing with the timeline and all that sort of stuff."

"Totally get ya. It's good to see you, too.

“I wasn't going to come back….well, I wouldn't be allowed to. For the past two weeks, I've been practically under house arrest. I wasn't allowed down the basement anymore! And I thought, you know, that's that. That was the end of my time traveling days. But things have changed.  _ Dad _ sent me to the past to find you, Sam, and Tucker. By the way, where are they?"

"Inside the DMV. What do you need us for?"

"Remember when Dad said Mom found Clockwork's castle empty? After the mission to get me home was over, they eventually went back to Clockwork's to try to figure out where everyone was.

“Mom found Clockwork and his assistants in the Thermos where you locked up your evil self."

" _ Oh no _ ."

"He's escaped, Danny. And now he's started an all-out war."

xxxxxxxx

There you have it! This arc is over, and we are now moving into the next one, which will be separated into another story called  _ Into the Future _ . In between  _ Back to the Past _ and  _ Into the Future _ , however, there is a story called  _ The High School Reunion _ . Please do follow me so that you'll be notified when I start publishing those two stories!

_ Into the Future _ will pick up right where  _ Back to the Past _ left off, and by the end of the story, we'll finally get the answers to our questions. For example, what's this war about? Will Danny, Sam, and Tucker travel into Tara's world? What  _ really _ happened to Tucker's wife? Will Danny and Sam ever get a moment to themselves where they aren't cockblocked?

All this will be answered in  _ Into the Future _ . Thank you for being such amazing fans!


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